U.S. Water News Online
LITTLE ROCK-- The state is working to determine how much pollution is flowing from new subdivisions in the Little Rock area into Fourche Creek, a waterway that a state regulator says is one of the largest urban wetlands in the country.
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has also added monthly monitoring stops along the scenic Saline River, which is designated as a state extraordinary resource.
Fourche Creek accepts water from a developed area that encompasses much of the Little Rock metropolitan area.
"It's one of the largest urban wetlands in the nation," said Martin Maner, chief of the water division of the ADEQ. He said a cleanup plan developed for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by Audubon Arkansas emphasized the importance of protecting the waterway.
Maner said the agency is working to gauge water quality at a number of points along the Fourche.
"Everything that gets in those storm drains goes into Rock Creek or Fourche Creek." Rock Creek is the main tributary of Fourche.
Fourche Creek itself and its tributaries span 90 square miles, an area that takes in fast-growing west Little Rock and developing areas as far away as Alexander on the border of Pulaski and Saline counties.
Four new monitoring stops are on Fourche Creek. Three of four stops on the Saline River are new. The department has added an inspector but officials say 17 positions is still not enough to keep up with complaints that construction sites have excess runoff.
Frank Estry, an ADEQ manager, says there were 44 stormwater inspections in fiscal 2003. That number jumped to 556 in fiscal 2006 statewide, he said.
He said the complaints came a wide range of places, including northwest Arkansas, Hot Springs, Jonesboro and central Arkansas.
Fines for violations can reach $25,000 but most are in the range of $1,500 to $6,000, Estry said.
Maner said he is working with the department to increase the fines.
The testing is to determine pH to determine acidity, levels of 150 metals and other compounds. Data from the monthly inspections can reflect trends and give officials the information they need to decide whether tighter controls are needed.
The monitoring is not the first effort to track what's going into the Fourche and Saline waterways, but officials say the new monitoring will complement earlier efforts.
The Saline River gains protection from its extraordinary resource designation and is popular for recreation.
Department water inspector Eric Fleming says the Middle Fork of the Saline River has been the center of concern because of runoff from golf courses in Hot Springs Village and nearby farms.
"You kind of see all the damage urban runoff is doing," Fleming said.
Aside from erosion and runoff problems on the Saline's Middle Fork, Fleming said natural factors are behind most changes that show up in the testing.
Maner said the results of tests on Fourche Creek will indicate whether the waterway should be put on a state list of impaired streams.
The Audubon group says state waterways will benefit from the extra attention.
"It's exciting we've been able to bring attention to Fourche Creek," said Kevin Pierson, Audubon's director of conservation.
He said the stream has high turbidity and high levels of some metals.
"We are really happy ADEQ has decided to put these samples in," Pierson said. "We consider it a victory for Fourche Creek."
The lower Saline River flows from Benton to Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, winding through largely undeveloped areas.
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